The Cohen Connection: Namdia plot takes another twist

The Issue has learned that Cohen allegedly arrived at Namdia’s Windhoek premises after the police had already taken charge of the scene and detectives were sweeping the area for clues. 

Investigators and other law-enforcement officials are now questioning why he was there, because his presence presents a series of coincidences.

FRIENDLY TIES

Cohen is reported to have been close friends with Max Endjala, who died from a gunshot wound to the head he sustained at the robbery scene. Law-enforcement sources believe Endjala was a key player in the heist. 

At the time of his death, Endjala was Trustco Group’s chief operations officer for internal and forensics investigations.

Cohen worked as general manager of Morse Investment between 2014 and 2016, which was at the time owned by Trustco. 

Another coincidence is the fact that one of the armed response security companies to arrive at the crime scene first was Xiphos Protection Group, a company that is 40% owned by businessman Nino Kalondo, the son of former first lady Monica Geingos. 

The Namibian three years ago reported that Kalondo and Cohen were business partners in at least two business ventures. Company records indicate that Xiphos is 60% owned by Gabriel Coetzee.

Kalondo said there is no link between Cohen and Xiophos. That his past business relations with Cohen also had nothing to do with Namdia.  He also pointed out that he no longer enjoys a cordial relationship with Cohen.

 “His presence (if he indeed was at Namdia on the date of the incident) and his relationship with the late Endjala (if he had one) have therefore nothing to do with our company,” Kalondo said in an emailed response.

Namdia sources told The Issue that the parastatal appointed the security company shortly after the robbery – without following its own internal procurement procedures. 

The Issue understands that this decision was taken by a ‘crisis committee’. 

“At all relevant times to this date, we believed and reasonably assumed that Namdia’s internal procurement rules and procedures had been complied with. We have no information suggesting that Namdia’s procurement rules and procedures were not followed nor could we accept the blame if it is correct that internal procedures were not followed,” Kalondo said. 

Interestingly, Xiphos is currently hired to protect the Elisenheim gated estate in Windhoek’s Brakwater area, which is managed by Trustco. However Kalondo made it clear that the company had no working relationship with Endjala, despite some of the residents stating that Endjala used to get involved in investigating and apprehending  suspected burglars who breached the estate’s security. 

Cohen also had direct dealings with Namdia. 

His company, Nuska Technologies previously scored a lucrative Namdia diamond valuation contract with the government. At the time the contract was awarded, Nuska Technologies was known as C-Sixty Investments.

Namdia did not respond to detailed questions sent on Tuesday.

CRIME SCENE

The police and security companies that responded to the scene on 18 January allegedly found that the parastatal’s power was cut, which disabled several of the building’s security functions.

On the day, Endjala allegedly parked his official Trustco vehicle at a friend’s house in Windhoek, after which he took the friend’s car to Trustco’s offices and parked it there. He later walked to a nearby service station, where he was picked up by a vehicle that seemed to have taken him to Namdia’s premises. Reports indicate that the police found Namdia’s building and floor plans in Endjala’s car, including notes allegedly setting out the heist’s execution.  

Investigators believed that Endjala and another suspect, Sam Shololo, were smuggled into the premises in a third suspect, Joel Angula’s Toyota Hilux bakkie, and stayed in the vehicle for over an hour. 

‘THE COAST IS CLEAR’

Angula allegedly then went to open a door that connects the Namdia staff parking lot and the office building. He then allegedly bent over to fiddle with his shoe, which is believed to have been a signal to the accomplices in his bakkie that the coast was clear. 

The Issue was also informed that closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed Angula and the other two using spray paint to obscure some of the cameras on the premises. They, however, did not manage to cover all of them. The three men allegedly went to the CCTV control room to track the security officials on the premises. Footage also shows how the three men tied up diamond-sorting employees. One was assaulted with a gun on the head. The three suspects allegedly first waited for the employees to finish sorting and getting the diamonds ready for sale.

This was when they cut the building’s power, a move that disabled security measures, leaving the workers in the sorting room defenceless. The police allegedly recovered four pistols at the scene. One is believed to belong to Endjala, another to Shololo, and two are owned by Namdia. Law-enforcement sources who spoke to The Issue further said the police noticed two suspects wearing balaclavas coming out of the building heading to the main gate, where they lay in ambush. 

The sources said Shololo realised too late that he was surrounded by the police. When the police shouted at him and ordered him to surrender, he allegedly dropped his handgun and put his hands in the air. He was found with diamonds in his mouth, two pistols, a spray paint can and a black bag, the sources say. Shololo allegedly told the police at the scene that two of his accomplices bearing Portuguese names had already fled the scene. Upon his arrest, the police found that Shololo sustained gunshot wounds to his buttocks.

He was then taken to hospital for treatment while under police custody. At the same time, Endjala, who was behind Shololo, ran back into the building to a server room on the ground floor. The police then heard two gunshots coming from the server room and responded with shots towards the server room. 

TWO BODIES

When the police entered the server room, they found two bodies – both with single gunshot wounds to the head. The one was that of Namdia senior protection officer Francis Eiseb. His head was allegedly covered with a plastic shopping bag, and his legs and arms were tied up with cable ties – his mouth gagged with masking tape. Eiseb was allegedly ambushed by the three suspects upon entering Namdia’s premises. They were at the time allegedly in the CCTV control room monitoring activities in the diamond sorting area. 

Eiseb had no chance as he was surprised, overpowered and taken to the server room, where he was found lifeless. On top of Eiseb lay Endjala, also with a gunshot wound to the head. He was not tied up and a gun was found on the floor next to the two bodies. Law-enforcement officials at the scene discovered that Endjala was still breathing and an ambulance was called, but Endjala died en route to Katutura Intermediate Hospital in Windhoek. 

The police then found three private security officers from Rubicon Security on the ground floor, tied up in toilets on the premises. Like Eiseb, their mouths were gagged with masking tape and their heads covered with plastic bags. The three officers were on duty at the time.

SUSPECT ALSO TIED UP

One Namdia protection officer who was also on duty was found tied up in the same manner as the others. His head was, however, covered with what looked like a helmet, and his mouth was not gagged. This turned out to be Joel Angula. The police then discovered four Namdia employees and two Ministry of Mines and Energy diamond inspectors on the building’s first floor. The six were given the same treatment as the three security guards, with their arms and legs tied up with cable ties, their mouths gagged, and with plastic bags over their heads.The robbers allegedly sprinkled diamonds across the parking area to distract the authorities. Some were allegedly found near a spot where a blanket was draped over the premises’ electric fence – presumably to create the impression that some suspects escaped via this route. 

Angula and Shololo are currently in police custody and are facing charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery and being in possession of rough and uncut diamonds.

453 DIAMOND PARCELS STILL MISSING 

A senior government official briefed on the investigations told The Issue that the police are still investigating the whereabouts of 453 unpolished diamond parcels worth approximately N$295 million, which can still not be accounted for after the robbery. This figure is closer to the figure of 446 diamond parcels which the Namibian Sun last month purported as diamond parcels that could not be accounted for. 

LARGEST CONSIGNMENT EVER

On Saturday 18 January, 512 unpolished diamond parcels and 29 loose diamonds were allegedly sorted for selling the following Monday, before the robbery took place. The stones were valued at N$350 million, the largest diamond stash at any given time in Namdia’s history. The Issue has learned that the police could only account for 59 unpolished diamond parcels as being recovered. One batch was found in Shololo’s mouth, 17 diamond parcels were found in a dustbin inside the CCTV control room on the ground floor, 35 unpolished diamond parcels were found scattered in the parking area, 29 loose diamonds were found on the floor of the vault on the first floor, six smaller diamonds were found on the floor outside the vault on the first floor, and 13 parcels were allegedly found at Angula’s house in Khomasdal. 

All the recovered diamonds are valued at approximately N$50 million. 

Namibian Sun has reported that police officers at the scene could be suspects and would be investigated. Police deputy inspector general for operations Elias Mutota early this month told The Issue that there has been no formal complaint alleging the police are complicit in stealing the diamonds found at the scene. 

He said the police will investigate the possibility of diamonds going missing from the scene and will expand the investigation to all those present on 18 January. 

This includes Namdia staff members, mines ministry officials, private security personnel, emergency medical personnel and onlookers.

‘POORLY HANDLED’

Law-enforcement sources have told The Issue that the crime scene was poorly handled by both the first police officers to arrive at the scene, as well as private security officers. The police allegedly failed to treat everyone found at the scene as a suspect. 

Those who were tied up were all perceived to be victims and were allowed to go home without being searched or interrogated. This is how Angula allegedly made it out of the building with 13 parcels of unpolished diamonds.

POLICE COMPLACENCY OR COMPLICITY? 

Allegations that the police could be involved in stealing diamonds from the crime scene have opened a can of worms for the Namibian Police. This involves another allegation that the police lost diamonds worth at least N$10 million between 2010 and 2020. The diamonds were allegedly in police custody in an evidence vault as exhibits (proof) in diamond theft and smuggling cases. 

At least two government and private sector sources well-versed in the diamond industry have confirmed the lost diamonds. 

Namibia’s second-largest diamond producer, Namdeb, has allegedly in the past complained about a N$10-million discrepancy in the exhibits that were handed over to the police and those which were returned. This was allegedly brought to the attention of the Diamond Board of Namibia, a body established under the Diamond Act, aimed at advising the mines minister on diamond-related matters, as well as regulating the industry.

“We refute the allegations because no complaints of a shortage of diamonds were ever reported to Nampol by Namdeb or De Beers,” said national police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi in an emailed response to The Issue last month. 

She said the police follow strict protocol when booking exhibits and that all diamond exhibits have been and continue to be evaluated, weighed and cross-checked with original evaluation reports upon return to their rightful owners.  

Even diamond commissioner Miina Auene-Gahutu has denied claims that diamonds have gone missing in police custody. 

“Namdeb would prefer not to publicly entertain the questions,” Namdeb spokesperson Pauline Thomas said the diamond giant was reluctant to entertain The Issue’s questions because of the company’s excellent working relationship with the police, especially in the combating of diamond-related crimes.

NAMDIA’S ALLEGED NEGLIGENCE 

From inception, Namdia has faced criticism about the company not taking security seriously, especially considering the high-risk environment it operates in. 

Law-enforcement agencies have allegedly warned Namdia about the fact that its building was situated at a risky location, making it vulnerable to potential robberies. 

This is because the building is situated on a busy freeway at the edge of town, close to the international airport and the nearest country border. The fact that Namdia is located in a residential area has also raised alarm.

Law-enforcement sources have pointed out to The Issue that other industry players subject potential employees, especially in the security department, to thorough background checks. Due diligence and reputational profile analysis are done, while in some cases the potential employees are also subjected to polygraph (lie detector) tests.

The police last month confirmed to The Issue that it warned Namdia late last year of a planned robbery and that the company should improve its security systems. 

 The Issue understands that the risks of poor security were also flagged internally. But it is believed that all these warnings fell on deaf ears. 

This has finally led to the suspension of Namdia chief executive Alisa Amupolo, chief operations officer Uahoroka Kauta, and chief of security Paulinus Sheyapo.